An electronic imaging device is an apparatus for forming an image on a recording material by an electrophotographic image forming technique, such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser printer, an electrophotographic printer, a facsimile machine, a word processor, and so on.
The electronic imaging device generally includes a main body (not shown), and a processing cartridge detachably mounted to the main body. In the prior art, as shown in FIG. 1, a driving component 100 is provided in the main body of the electronic image forming apparatus, and a power receiving component 101 is provided at one end in the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the processing cartridge 1. In order to facilitate the engagement of the driving component 100 with the power receiving component 101, the power receiving component 101 is generally provided with a structure (universal joint), which can swing in any arbitrary direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the processing cartridge 1. When the processing cartridge 1 is mounted to the main body, the power receiving component 101 can swing toward the mounting direction of the processing cartridge 1 with the help from a torsion spring.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the power receiving component 101 is connected to the hub 102, and the power receiving component 101 can swing in any arbitrary direction with respect to the axis of the hub 102. The power receiving component 101 can swing in the Y direction (the mounting direction of the processing cartridge 1) with the help from the torsion spring 103. The driving component 100 is brought in to contact with the power receiving component 101 during the mounting of the processing cartridge 1 to the electronic image forming apparatus and thereby causing the power receiving component 101 to swing in the opposite direction of the axis (the Y direction) of the hub 102. When the processing cartridge 1 is moving until the axis of the hub 102 and the axis of the drive component 100 is substantially coaxial, the power receiving component 101 can swing in the opposite of Y direction to a position where the shaft of the power receiving component 101 and the shaft of hub 102 are basically coaxial by the driving component 100. Then, the power receiving component 101 is engaged with the driving component 100, and the power receiving component 101 receives the rotational force from the driving component 100 and transmits the rotational force to the hub 102. The hub 102 drives other gears engaged with the gears on the peripheral surface of the hub 102, and the rotational force is transmitted to the other rotating components.
However, since the power receiving component 101 can swing with respect to the hub 102, the power receiving component 101 is easy to vibrate during the process of power transmission. As a result, the transmission of the rotational force is not stable enough, which affects the developing quality of the processing cartridge 1. In addition, the way the power receiving component 101 connecting with the hub is complicated and the assembling is not convenient.
The disclosed devices and methods are directed to at least partially alleviate one or more problems set forth above and to solve other problems in the art.